Your Personal Brand...What Does It Say About You?
Do you have a personal brand? Are you even aware you need one?
I've seen and read several articles recently, from Forbes to Inc., that included statements like this: "By 2020 if you don't have a personal brand no one will work with you. Having a personal brand will be what sets you apart, both professionally and personally." (Inc. Oct. 2017)
In terms of a brand, what comes to mind when people ask you what you do? If you answer with tactical answers, you're not speaking from your personal brand. We all perform tactical things. In our professions these can be anything from creating marketing campaigns, analyzing and reporting data, to maintaining client accounts. In our personal lives, it can be spending time with family and friends, running errands, carpooling, and household chores. Those are tasks, they are not reflective of our personal brand.
If you have a job, and every one of us does, regardless of whether you get paid or not; developing your personal brand is critical for continued success. Integrity, honesty, collaboration, emotional intelligence, inclusion, and adaptability are a few characteristics to a personal brand. Those characteristics attract us to others and develop relationships. But what about the not so pretty characteristics? You know the ones I'm talking about...sarcasm, lack of consideration, failure to respond or follow through, exclusion, making fun of others, putting others down, making excuses...the list goes on. These are detrimental to your personal brand. If your personal brand reflects any of these characteristics, folks will take a second or third look before interacting, and especially, working with you.
Whether you realize it or not, you have a personal brand. Your personal brand is comprised of several personal characteristics such as your character, integrity, authenticity, etc, as well as other's experiences with you and their perceptions about you. Your personal brand is what sets you apart from everyone else. My personal brand developed almost naturally. The characteristics that played a key role in developing my brand is my passion for helping others; being honest, almost to a fault; integrity; doing what I say I'll do; being consistent; putting others first; genuinely caring about the success of others; and simply being kind.
I've always found it easy to connect others to services and resources that help them succeed, while developing lasting relationships with them. My personal brand (and tag line) is that "I connect and engage with others in a meaningful manner, empowering them to make a difference with impact".
My personal brand is critical to my businesses, and my personal relationships. Without it, I lose the trust and respect of colleagues and long time friends. The same applies to you. Your brand is what makes you marketable, both professionally and personally.
Whether you're in a corporate role, an entrepreneur, in direct sales and network marketing, or a stay at home parent, developing your personal brand will become even more critical in the next few years. You may think you have a "public/professional" and "private" brand, especially on social media, with the private brand being the complete opposite of the public one. At some point, these two brands will cross paths, and if they aren't reflecting the same message and brand characteristics, your customers and audience will begin to question your authenticity and integrity; and at best you'll find yourself doing damage control so you don't lose everything you worked to build. Besides, isn't it easier to consistently maintain one brand and not have to worry whether someone will learn about the other.
In relationships, your brand plays a key factor in the relationships you attract. If you are the party type, then your brand will attract the party people. If you give excuses and don't follow through on your word, your brand will lack integrity. If you only tell others what they want to hear, your brand will attract those who are shallow. If you listen and meet others where they are, your brand will attract others who meet you where you are. If you follow through on what you say, your brand will attract others who are reliable and dependable. If you're honest and speak your authentic truth, your brand will attract those who are genuine and authentic. If you put others first, your brand will attract the right people to help you succeed.
What we think of our personal brand may not be much of anything, but it's what sets us apart from someone else. It's imperative that we develop a personal brand that reflects who we are, and the values we hold for ourselves and others. Our relationships will be deeper and richer, and the success we achieve will be all that much sweeter.
What does your personal brand say about you?
I've seen and read several articles recently, from Forbes to Inc., that included statements like this: "By 2020 if you don't have a personal brand no one will work with you. Having a personal brand will be what sets you apart, both professionally and personally." (Inc. Oct. 2017)
In terms of a brand, what comes to mind when people ask you what you do? If you answer with tactical answers, you're not speaking from your personal brand. We all perform tactical things. In our professions these can be anything from creating marketing campaigns, analyzing and reporting data, to maintaining client accounts. In our personal lives, it can be spending time with family and friends, running errands, carpooling, and household chores. Those are tasks, they are not reflective of our personal brand.
If you have a job, and every one of us does, regardless of whether you get paid or not; developing your personal brand is critical for continued success. Integrity, honesty, collaboration, emotional intelligence, inclusion, and adaptability are a few characteristics to a personal brand. Those characteristics attract us to others and develop relationships. But what about the not so pretty characteristics? You know the ones I'm talking about...sarcasm, lack of consideration, failure to respond or follow through, exclusion, making fun of others, putting others down, making excuses...the list goes on. These are detrimental to your personal brand. If your personal brand reflects any of these characteristics, folks will take a second or third look before interacting, and especially, working with you.
Whether you realize it or not, you have a personal brand. Your personal brand is comprised of several personal characteristics such as your character, integrity, authenticity, etc, as well as other's experiences with you and their perceptions about you. Your personal brand is what sets you apart from everyone else. My personal brand developed almost naturally. The characteristics that played a key role in developing my brand is my passion for helping others; being honest, almost to a fault; integrity; doing what I say I'll do; being consistent; putting others first; genuinely caring about the success of others; and simply being kind.
I've always found it easy to connect others to services and resources that help them succeed, while developing lasting relationships with them. My personal brand (and tag line) is that "I connect and engage with others in a meaningful manner, empowering them to make a difference with impact".
My personal brand is critical to my businesses, and my personal relationships. Without it, I lose the trust and respect of colleagues and long time friends. The same applies to you. Your brand is what makes you marketable, both professionally and personally.
Whether you're in a corporate role, an entrepreneur, in direct sales and network marketing, or a stay at home parent, developing your personal brand will become even more critical in the next few years. You may think you have a "public/professional" and "private" brand, especially on social media, with the private brand being the complete opposite of the public one. At some point, these two brands will cross paths, and if they aren't reflecting the same message and brand characteristics, your customers and audience will begin to question your authenticity and integrity; and at best you'll find yourself doing damage control so you don't lose everything you worked to build. Besides, isn't it easier to consistently maintain one brand and not have to worry whether someone will learn about the other.
In relationships, your brand plays a key factor in the relationships you attract. If you are the party type, then your brand will attract the party people. If you give excuses and don't follow through on your word, your brand will lack integrity. If you only tell others what they want to hear, your brand will attract those who are shallow. If you listen and meet others where they are, your brand will attract others who meet you where you are. If you follow through on what you say, your brand will attract others who are reliable and dependable. If you're honest and speak your authentic truth, your brand will attract those who are genuine and authentic. If you put others first, your brand will attract the right people to help you succeed.
What we think of our personal brand may not be much of anything, but it's what sets us apart from someone else. It's imperative that we develop a personal brand that reflects who we are, and the values we hold for ourselves and others. Our relationships will be deeper and richer, and the success we achieve will be all that much sweeter.
What does your personal brand say about you?
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